Bibi, Barak Planned Iran Attack in 2010, Security Officials Opposed

Local Editor

"Israel's" Prime Minister and war minister ordered the entity's military to prepare for a strike against Iran's nuclear installations two years ago, according to a television documentary to be aired on Monday.

But the order was not enacted after it met with strong opposition from key security chiefs, the military chief of staff and head of the Mossad, the program in the TV series Uvda [Fact] claims.
It further uncovers that, "following a meeting of selected key ministers and officials, Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak decided to order the army to raise its level of preparedness to "P Plus", a code signifying imminent military action."
However, the army chief Gabi Ashkenazi and Mossad head Meir Dagan, who were both present at the meeting, opposed the move. According to the hour-long Channel 2 program, Dagan told Netanyahu and Barak: "You are likely to make an illegal decision to go to war. Only the cabinet is authorized to decide this."
Moreover, the program reported Dagan saying after the meeting that the "both Bibi and Barak were simply trying to steal a war."
Ashkenazi voiced fears that raising the alert level would "create facts on the ground", making a military strike inevitable. He was quoted as saying: "This is not something you do unless you are certain you want to execute at the end."
It is worth mentioning that both "Israeli" security chiefs have since left their posts.
Barak, who was interviewed for the program, said the order was not enacted because the military did not have the necessary operational capability. He rejected the notion that security chiefs vetoed the order.

"The things you are describing are the responsibility of the government," he said. "The idea that if the chief of staff does not recommend something that is possible to do, then we cannot decide to carry it out - this has no basis in fact. The chief of staff must build the operational capacity, he must tell us from a professional point of view whether it is possible to carry out an order, or if it is not possible, and he also can - and must - give his recommendation. [But] it can be carried out against his recommendation."

Barak also said that raising the alert level "did not necessarily mean war".
The Channel 2 reporter for the program, Ilana Dayan, said "Israeli" military censors prevented her from disclosing the date in 2010 for the order.
Since leaving office, both security chiefs have made clear their opposition to premature military action against Iran. In August, Ashkenazi said "we're still not there", urging more time for sanctions and diplomacy.
Dagan said bombing Iran was "the stupidest idea I've ever heard". He told CBS's 60 Minutes: "An attack on Iran now before exploring all other approaches is not the right way ... to do it."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org